future, starting this book tour. there is a new generation, congratulations to steve and carrie, they just had nora graham. >> bookshelves right now, there you go. noon eastern tomorrow, we will see you back then. the speaker 8 "happening now" now. >> jenna: fox news alert on a busy news day, president-elect trump denying allegations involving russia and potential blackmail and blasting news organizations that reported them, look up to the second hour of "happening now," i am jenna lee. >> jon: i'm jon scott. that came during mr. trump's first press conference and almost six months, and he said he is separating himself from his family business. he announced his nominee for veterans affairs secretary, david shulkin who is already serving as undersecretary of health inside the va for the obama administration. >> jenna: different headline for the oppressor due to mike presser. we have three cabinet choices in the spotlight after confirmation

hearings today. secretary of state nominate rex tillerson, jeff sessions and transportation nominee elaine chao periods we sing life fox news coverage, standing by on the rex tillerson confirmation hearing but we begin with john roberts life at trump tower in new york city. >> good afternoon to you, quite a scene as hundreds of journalists packed into the lobby to hear donald trump give his first press conference since being elected president back on november 8th. very much a combative press conference, wide ranging one but focusing mostly on these allegations that russia has been compiling a dossier of confirmation, compromising insulation information used against donald trump to blackmail him. he pushed strongly against it not just him, but mike pence, his running mate and incoming press secretary at sean spicer, calling it disgraceful, not worth the paper it is written on, saying it is all fake news and calling a lot of news organizations who published

that, specifically "buzzfeed," which he called basically a feeling operation. trump did allow, though, and did acknowledge answering a question i posed to him, that vladimir putin did in fact ordered the hack of the democratic national coml as an o hack the rnc but he says when he becomes president, things are going to be operate much differently when it comes to russia. here is what trump said. >> he should not be doing it, he won't be doing it. russia will have much greater respect for our country when i am leading it and when other people have let it. you will see that. russia will respect our country more. he should not have done it. i don't believe he will be doing it more now. we have to work something out. but it is not just russia. take a look at what has happened. you do not report at the same way. 22 million accounts were hacked in this country by china, and that is because we have no defense. let us because we are run by

people that don't know what they are doing. russia will have far greater respect for our country when i am leading it. and i believe, and i hope, maybe it won't happen, it is possible, but i won't be given a little reset button like hillary. here, press this piece of plastic, he looked at her like what are you doing? there is no reset button. we are either going to get along or we are not. i hope we get along. >> donald trump also told the press conference he believes that if vladimir putin likes donald trump come he considers that an asset and reiterated he is going to tell his incoming intelligence chief mike pompeo and former senator dan coats that within 90 days, they need to put a plan on his desk to combat cyber terrorism or even just cyber probing, the sort of which russia was involved and according to the intelligence agencies. a number of other topics come he pledged again mexico will reimburse united states for the wall and does not want to wait until the deal is made with mexico to get it built so he

said he will start construction on that as soon as he possibly can. he talked about obamacare, saying it is his preference to repealed and replaced simultaneously, saying that would happen within a day, perhaps within a week, depending on what timetable he can put together. he said he will announce his pick for the supreme court to replace the late justice antonin scalia. within two weeks of taking office, and also talked about how he is going to separate himself from his business interests, sheri dillon, the law firm representing him gave a long explanation of how he is going to do that, basically, he sold off all of his investments, so he's going to take out his assets and put those into a trust. he is resigning his position as an officer and all of the companies. interesting that people talked about emoluments, and an emoluments is a monetary benefit that an elected official derives from foreign services and sources. donald trump said first of all, renting a hotel room to a foreign official would not be considered an emoluments, it would be sort of a pay for something of equal value, but he said any profits derived from

his businesses, which he is turning over to his sons don and eric, they would go into the treasury if it came from foreign sources. he also is going to hang onto the old post office, the rationale for that comment even though they say an elected official cannot hold a financial interest in that project, he signed that lease before he became an elected official, so they believe they haven't out there. you mentioned that david shulkin, currently with that the apartment of veterans affairs and undersecretary for health affairs will be elevated to head the affairs department, donald trump looked long and hard for the appropriate person, and ultimately found that appropriate person was already inside the organization. >> jon: the second holdover from the obama administration. interesting in and of itself. john roberts, thank you. >> jenna: back to capitol hill, former exxonmobil ceo rex tillerson taking some tough questions on russia at his confirmation hearing. lawmakers grilling the

president-elect's choice for secretary of state over how he would deal with vladimir putin. the nominee acknowledging moscow could pose a danger to america, we are having catherine -- rich live outside the hearing. >> good afternoon, the bulk of the first four hours of this hearing, we have just exceeded four hours, have been questions about rex tillerson's thoughts and relationship on the regina of vladimir putin and on russia. the hearing is ongoing, started at 9:00 this money, we will take a look inside the hearing room right behind me, as you go into this evening. tillerson has been defending his relationship and expansion of exxon business to russia, great relationship when he was ceo, the relationship exxon had with the state owned oil company they are, and he was asked essentially the question of whether or not russia in the relationship between russia in the united states could ever be a partnership or ever lead to friendship. he said we are not likely to ever be friends because of our different value systems.

his opponents point out the present environment putin awarded tillerson the russian order of friendship here while democrats focused on that relationship, it was a republican who was most probing of the relationship. >> is but a mere war criminal? >> i would not use that term. >> let me describe the situation and perhaps let me help you reach that conclusion. in aleppo, he is put forth a density campaign to target schools, not just his operatives, the military has targeted schools in markets in civilian infrastructure that resulted in the death of thousands of civilians. >> rubio also added that he finds tillerson's inability to define it as a war crime discouraging. democrats also question tillerson as to whether he can make the break since he worked at exxonmobil over 40 years, rose to ceo in 2006 in whether

he received of that compensation, if he can truly make the transition from being in corporate america deserving american interest in the american people. to that, tillerson said he is making a clean break from the private sector and will do so. skepticism in the hearing continues for the next few hours, and possibly through to tomorrow. back to you. >> jenna: thank you very much. going back inside the hearing room, where richest any outside as rex tillerson continues to answer questions. this is the first time we are hearing from rex tillerson who could quite possibly and most likely be our next secretary of state. we are going to rejoin the hearing and listen in a little while here now. >> the sting with the united nations that you talked about, the international agreement specifically you are asked about the climate agreements, international climate change funding as a part of that. the obama admin's ration is unilaterally pledging $3 billion to the u.n. green climate fund. the initiation has requested 1.3 billion for global climate

change initiatives in this year's president's budget for fiscal year 2017. you mentioned donald trump campaigning on america first. will you commit to ensuring that no funding will go to the u.n. green climate fund? >> and consultation with the president, my expectation is we are going to look at all of these things from the bottom up in terms of funds that we have committed for this effort. >> senator isaacson asked and talked about the value of using soft power, it seems there are so many opportunities whether it is humanitarian assistance, democracy promotion, security measures that are necessary, countering global terrorist threats where money could possibly be better spent than on these efforts, so i appreciate your effort to look into that. senator corker earlier talked about some of the wonderful things that have been done around the world because of u.s. involvement, and part of that is power helping to power energy in a number of communities around

the world, many of us have been to africa to see what happens in a community where there is energy available that had not been previously. in terms of helping as a tool for those countries, so people can get better education opportunities, health, well-being. we have had a situation where some of the programs in place have not really supported all of the above energy, and we have seen it with the world bank that has blocked funding for coal-fired power plants which would help bring light and other opportunities to a number of countries in africa. i wonder if you could comment on the need to use all of the sources of energy to help people who are living in poverty and without power. >> i think, and i know you touched on it, but nothing lift people out of poverty quicker than electricity. that is just a fact. you get people like, you give them the ability to refrigerate, food, medicine, it changes their entire quality of life. they no longer cook on animal

dung, wood cooking in their homes, so health issues, their health improves. i think it is very important that we use wisely the american people's dollars as we support these programs. that means whatever is the most efficient, effective way to deliver electricity to these areas that don't have it, that should be the choice, and that is the wisest use of american dollars. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, we are running slightly behind, we are going to go ahead and finish up with senator coons and senator portman. senator booker is not here, we will take a 45 minute recess when these two gentlemen finished their time. each of them will have 10 minutes when they get back to start, then we will resume again and the same order, starting with senator cardin, we will do seven minute rounds when we get back. it looks like we will recess about 1:30 and come back at

2:15. with that, senator coons. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. tillerson, good afternoon. to your whole family, welcome and thank you for your willingness to serve this country in this important post. i appreciate the frank conversation we had in my office last week, and i just want the american people to hear some of the answers you gave me on some pressing and relevant questions of round your and your views on the world but in a focused way on the record. many of my colleagues have already asked about how you watch to handle the transition from ceo of the world's leading oil company chewed secretary of state, advocating for human rights and open press and democracy. i've been encouraged to hear you say we will stand by our nato allies, you would not support accepting the annexation of crimea by russia, and that you see russia as currently an adversary -- >> jenna: we going to take a pause on this testimony because we have a whole other hearing we

want to watch for because they are making news and there will be news made there. we joined the rex tillerson hearing, and we will be joined in a few moments as it continues but another event in washington, d.c., on the capital. >> jon: day one of the tillerson hearing in this fox news alert, day two of the hearings for senator jeff sessions of alabama. something unprecedented is about to happen. his fellow senator, democrat cory booker of new jersey is actually going to testify against him, testify against a sitting senator who was nominated to be attorney general, we are talking about senator jeff sessions of alabama. this is patrick leahy of vermont. let's listen in now to that sessions confirmation hearing. >> we tried to form a more perfect union and continues with every generation. congressman lewis has been a friend of mine for decades, we served together, and he nearly

gave his life for that effort. i invited congressman lewis and his committee before for important conversations about marriage equality, voting rights, the stakes are just as high. i am sorry we have broken with committee tradition, made these members of congress wait until the very end to hear them speak. that is not the way i come as chairman, would do with the other chairman has, but that is what we have. but i commend senator booker and represented lewis in richmond for their courage, practice or with with them, i think them fog here. >> thank you senator lahey. my colleague, senator booker is from new jersey. i know him well. and we all know him. we appreciate your coming over to testify. we will hear from mr. willie huntley, mr. huntley is a former

assistant u.s. attorney in the southern district of alabama who worked under senator sessions when he served as u.s. attorney there, and he has known senator sessions for nearly 30 years. then we will hear from a well-known civil rights leader, representative john lewis who represents georgia's fifth district. welcome back to the committee, congressman lewis, always good to have you here. after representative lewis, we will hear from the honorable jesse who served as u.s. marshal for the middle district of alabama, 2002-2011. he first got to know senator sessions and 1995 when he worked for him in the alabama attorney general's office. next, we will hear from representative cedric richard who serves the people of

louisiana's second congressional district and is chair of the congressional black caucus. welcome to the committee, congressman richmond. finally, we will hear from mr. william smith, mr. smith worked for senator sessions as the first african-american general counsel on the senate judiciary committee. he has known senator sessions for 20 years, and we know him because of his service as a staff person here as well. welcome to all of you. we will start with senator booker. >> thank you, chairman. i want to thank senator is well and that distinction members of this committee. i know it is exceptional for a senator to testify against another senator nominated for a cabinet position. and i appreciate the opportunity you have given me today. i worked closely with many of you on this panel on both sides on matters related to criminal justice reform, and you know

just how deeply motivated i am by the many issues are next attorney general will heavily influence, especially of the crisis mass incarceration. i know that some of my many colleagues are unhappy i am breaking with senate tradition to testify on the nomination of one of my colleagues, but i believe, like perhaps all of my colleagues in that senate, that in the choice between standing with senate norms or standing up for what my conscious tells me is best for our country, i wille and country. senator sessions and i have consistently disagreed on the issues, but he and i have always exercised ecclesiology and a mutual respect between us. perhaps the best example of this is the legislation we cosponsor to award the congressional gold medal to those foot soldiers who marched at selma, one of the foot soldiers is sitting next to me now. this was a blessing and an honor

to me because in 2015, a retired judge who was white told me that it was those brave marchers on the bridge who inspired him as a young lawyer in the 1960s to seek justice for all in new jersey and began representing black families looking to integrate white neighborhoods, black families who were turned away and denied housing. one of those families was mine. i am literally sitting here because of people, marchers and alabama, volunteer lawyers in new jersey, who saw it as their affirmative duty to pursue justice to fight discrimination, to stand up for those who are marginalized. but the march for justice in our country still continues. it is still urgent. i know also, though, of the urgency for law and order. i imagine that no sitting senator has lived in the last 2n

higher crime neighborhoods than i have. i've seen unimaginable violence on american streets. i know the tremendous courage of law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line every single day to fight crime in america. i want an attorney general who is committed to supporting law enforcement and securing law and order, but that is not enough. america was founded not on law and order but justice for all. and critical to that is equal justice under the law. law and order without justice is unobtainable. they are inextricably tied together. if there is no justice, there is no peace. the alabama state troopers on the bridge were seeking law and order. the marchers were seeking justice. and ultimately a greater peace.

one of the victories of the modern civil rights movement was the 1957 civil rights act which in effect made the attorney general, not only the chief law enforcement officer of the united states, but also invested in that office the responsibility to pursue civil rights and equal protection for all of america. senator sessions has not demonstrated a commitment to a central requisite of theto aggressively pursue the congressional mandate of civil rights, equal rights, and justice for all of our citizens. in fact, numerous times in his career, he has demonstrated the hostility toward these convictions and has worked to frustrate attempts to advance these ideals. if confirmed, senator sessions will be required to pursue justice for women, but his record indicates that he won't. he will be expected to defend the equal rights of gay and

lesbian and transgender americans, but his record indicates he won't. he will be expected to defend voting rights, but his record indicates he won't. he will be expected to defend the rights of immigrants and affirm their human dignity, but the record indicates that he won't. his record indicates that as attorney general, he would object to the growing national bipartisan movement toward criminal justice reform. his record indicates that we cannot count on him to support state and national efforts toward bringing justice to the justice system, and people on both sides of the aisle who readily admit that the justice system as it stands now is biased against the poor, against drug addiction, against mentally ill, and against people of color. his record indicates that a time that even the fbi director is speaking out against complicit racial bias in policing and the urgent need to address it, at a

time when the last two attorney general's have taken steps to fix our broken criminal justice system, at a time when the justice department he would lead has uncovered systemic abuses in police departments all over the united states, including ferguson, including newark, senator sessions would not continue to lead this urgently needed change. the next attorney general must bring hope and healing to this country, and this demands a more courageous empathy then senator sessions record demonstrates. it demands an understanding that patriotism is love of country and love of country demands that we love all of our citizens, even the most marginalized, the most disadvantaged, the most degraded, and the most unfortunate. challenges of race in america cannot be addressed if we refuse to confront them.

persistent biases cannot be defended unless we combat them. the arc of the moral universe does not just naturally curve toward justice. we must vent it. if one is to be attorney general, they must be willing to continue the hallowed tradition of our country of fighting for justice for all, for equal justice, for civil rights. america needs an attorney general who is resolute and determined to bend the arc. senator sessions' record does not speak to that desire, intention, or will. with all that it has taken our nation now, with this urgent need for healing and for love, i pray that my colleagues will join me in opposing this nomination. mr. chairman, my time is over, i would like to submit the rest of my testimony to the record. i would like to again thank you for the opportunity to testify and finally i would like to acknowledge this was not done

without the people sitting behind me, the united states congress and the congressional black caucus. thank you, sir. >> you should not have had to recognize them, i should have done that, i am sorry. i knew they were here. mr. huntley. you have to push the button. >> thank you. i will start over. >> may be pulled the closer, as close as you can. >> good afternoon. that is much better. my name is willie huntley, i am an attorney located in mobile, alabama. i am a solo practitioner and have been practicing law for over 30 years. i am a graduate of harvard university where i attended college on a football scholarship. i graduated from auburn in 1980, and i attended columbia law school after that. i finished law school in 1984.

after i finished law school, i started a federal clerkship with a federal judge in montgomery, alabama. after i completed that process, i began a tour with the assistant attorney in alabama, i was there from 1985-1987. then my life changed. i got a phone call one day, in my secretary comes in the office, and she says, jeff sessions is on the phone. i am sitting there wondering, why is jeff sessions calling me? i was well aware of the allegations that had happened in his bid to become a federal judge, which made me wonder why he was calling me. i answered the phone, then i find out that jeff sessions wants me to become an assistant united states attorney in the southern district of alabama. this presented an ideal situation, so i decided to take advantage of that, in the first

time i actually met him was at a dinner in montgomery. that dinner was supposed to last probably an hour or an hour and a half year we ended up meeting for about three hours. during that time, we discussed in a boat delete my number of topics, football, religion, politics, family, and during thy meeting with him, i got the feeling more and more and more that the allegations that had been spread through the press were not true. i also was contemplating whether i should make this move because i thought, if i go to mobile, i don't know anybody there, i have no family there, and what if this man turns out to be exactly how he has been portrayed? fortunately, it did not turn out like that. i was at the u.s. attorney's office from 1987-1991. he assigned me the general

criminal trial cases. he also assigned me the civil rights cases, and i would supervise all of the civil rights cases that came through the office. during this time. matt, i can recall where we successfully prosecuted a police officer that was charged with excessive use of force. unfortunately, i made a decision to leave the u.s. attorney's office in 1991. that decision was not based on anything that had happened to me during my time in the u.s. attorney's office. during that time. mack, jeff gave me advice, counsel, he provided a great deal of support and everything that i did. one thing in particular that he did was my second child was born, and there was a knock on the door that morning. through the door walks jeff sessions. after i left the u.s. attorney's

office, jeff became the attorney general of alabama. he asked me to join his staff at that time, but i declined to join his staff. however, he made me a special assistant attorney general, and he put me in charge of handling defense cases for the state of alabama. also during this time, jeff became charged with violating the state of alabama ethics act. it involved a company, and jeff sessions could have hired any lawyer he wanted to represent him in that matter. jeff decided to hire me in that particular case. we had that case and during the course of it, it was probably the longest hearing that had ever been held before that state ethics commission. at that point, jeff was fully exonerated of all of the charges involved in the state ethics act. one of the things i can say about jeff is that he has always

been the same person that i have known. he has always been available for me and always been there when i needed him. at no point in the time that i have known jeff has he demonstrated any racial insensitivity. and i see my time is rapidly winding down. i would look just like to say that in my opinion, jeff sessions will enforce and follow the laws of the united states, evenhandedly, equally and with justice for all. jeff sessions will adhere to the justice department motto, it means "for the lady justice, jeff will protect and defend the rights of all people" peer think is so much for this opportunity. >> thank you. now we will hear from congressman john lewis. >> chairman grassley, senator

leahy, and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today. millions of americans are encouraged by our country's efforts to create a more inclusive democracy during the last 50 years. but what some of us call the beloved community, a community at peace with itself. the clear majority of americans say they want this to be a fair, just, and open nation. they are afraid this country is headed in the wrong direction. they are concerned that some leaders reject decades of progress and want to return to the dark past. when the power of law was used to deny the freedoms protected by the constitution.

the bill of rights and its amendments, these are the voices i represent today. we can pretend that the law is blind. we can pretend that it is evenhanded, but if we are honest with ourselves, we know that we are called upon daily by the people we represent to help them deal with unfairness and how the law is written and enforced. those who are committed to equal justice in our society wonder whether senator sessions calls a friend law and order mean today what they meant and alabama when i was coming up back then. the rule of law was used to violate the human and civil rights for the poor, the dispossessed, people of color.

i was born in rural alabama, not very far from where senator sessions was raised. there was no way to escape or deny the chokehold of discrimination and racial hate that surrounded us. i saw the signs that said "white waiting, colored waiting," i saw "white men, colored men, white women, colored women" signs. i tasted the bitter fruits of segregation and racial discrimination. segregation was the law of the land that ordered our society and the deep south. any black person who did not cross the street when a white person was walking down the same sidewalk, who did not move to the back of the bus, who drank

from a white water fountain, who looked at a white person directly in the eyes could be arrested and taken to jail. the forces of law and order and alabama were so strong that to take a stand against this injustice, we had to be willing to sacrifice our lives for our cause. often, the only way we could demonstrate that a law on the books violated a higher law was by challenging that law, by putting our bodies on the line and showing the world the unholy price we had to pay for dignity and respect. it took massive, well organized, nonviolent dissent for the voting rights act to become law. it required criticism of this

great nation and its laws to move toward a greater sense of equality in america. we had to sit in. we had to stand in. we had to march. that is why more than 50 years ago, a group of unarmed citizens, black and white comic gathered on march 7th, 1965, in an orderly, peaceful, nonviolent fashion to walk from selma to montgomery, alabama, to dramatize to the nation and to the world that we wanted to register to vote. we wanted to become participants in the democratic process. we were beaten. tear gassed, left plenty, some of us unconscious, some of us had concussions, some of us almost died on that bridge.

but the congress responded, president lyndon johnson responded, in the congress passed the voting rights act, and it was signed into law on august 6th, 1965. we have come a distance. we have made progress, but we are not there yet. there are forces that want to take us back to another place. we don't want to go back. we want to go forward. as the late randolph who was the dean of the march on washington in 1963 said often, maybe our forefathers and our foremothers all came to this great land in different ships, but we are all in the same boat now. it doesn't matter how senator sessions mate smile, how friendly he may be, how he may speak to you, but we need someoe

who can stand up, speak up, and speak on it for the people that need help, for people who have been discriminated against, and it doesn't matter whether they are black or white, latino, asian-american, or native american, or they are straight or gay, muslim, christian, or jews, we all live in the same house, the american house. we need someone as attorney general who is going to look out for all of us. not just for some of us. i ran out of time. thank you for giving me a chance to testify. >> thank you, congressman lewis. now i go to mr. seroyer. >> it is an honor for me to be here. thank you for your time. my name is jeff seroyer. i've been in law enforcement

since 1976 until 2016. i've served in local police department's for 11 years, served in the united states marshals service for eight and a half years, served in the attorney general's office for 20 and a half years. i first met jeff sessions when he was a u.s. attorney in the middle district of alabama, in the southern district, i'm sorry. he was prosecuted at that time, he was prosecuting a clams and by the name of henry hayes. jeff prosecuted that person for the objection and murder of a black teenager. following jeff's election as attorney general, i had the privilege to serve in his administration as his chief investigator. the beginning of jeff's tenure as attorney general presented senator sessions with challenges that included budget crisis, one-third direction of staff. things that jeff did when we came with the budget crisis and reduction of staff, there were

several people in the office that had to seek other jobs elsewhere. there was a black investigator in the office that came and had less than a year left before he was eligible to retire. jeff sessions allowed that to take place. he did not have to do that. he did not have to do that at all because of the situation that we were in. jeff sessions retained me. he did not have to do that. but he did. following the election, we were charged with the responsibilities of a lot of crimes and the expectations of the attorney general was charged with the working various cases which included white-collar crimes, corruption, voter fraud and criminal investigations. as i reflect on our work, there was never a time when any of these cases was investigated with any political agenda or motive.

the utmost respect and integrity was exercised for all individuals involved. jeff sessions serviced in decisions as attorney general earn him a reputation and respect among his colleagues and appreciation for his willingness to do what was right. when jeff sessions got to the u.s. senate, as attorney general, he had argued to uphold the conviction and sentence of klansman henry hayes for the murder of michael donnelly. when jeff sessions became u.s. senator, he helped me be appointed to the u.s. marshals for the district of alabama. he did not have to do that, but he did. i have known jeff sessions for 20 years. he is a good and decent man. he believes in law and order for all of the people. all the people and alabama because of his colleagues and all of the ones that surrounded

him, the things he has done for the law enforcement community and the citizens of alabama is great, it is without any question as to whether or not he would be fit to serve this country as the united states attorney general. now, i did not learn these things from a political press conference or any web site where i write about it. i know jeff sessions as the man, the man that i know is a decent and honest and respectful man that would put all of his life into public service. he has done that. when we talk about the criminal justice system, we enforce the laws, and we do it because we have a love for the laws. jeff sessions loves the people that do the enforcement side of it. he respects the citizens that deserve a good and honest person that is going to give all he has to make sure that everyone is treated equally and fairly under the law.

but his decency as a man and his honesty as a man speaks for itself. he is the type of individual that i support for the united states attorney general's office because of my reputation and his history with me as a person and the things i have seen over the years and jeff sessions. it is hard to be a public servant. i was -- i've been in law enforcement for 40 years. it is a tough job. we don't violate the laws. we don't get out there and do things that would cause ourselves to be brought into the system, and i'm not saying everybody is the same. but i believe that he will take hold of the justice system and justice department and he will be fair, honest, and he will do the same thing for every person with honesty and respect for all of us. my time is up. thank you for listening. >> thank you, mr. seroyer. now congressman richmond.

>> wait just a minute. >> let me think the chairman and ranking members for allowing me to testify. >> i would ask you to hold pure you will not lose any time. [woman shouting in the distance] >> proceed, congressman. >> let me think the chairman and ranking member for allowing me to testify. the senate's duty to provide a good nominee is a cornerstone of american democracy pure and i know you do not take this

responsibility lightly. before i jump into my substantive testimony, i want to address two timely issues peered first, i want to express my concerns about being made to testify at the very end of the witness panels. to have a senator, a house member, and a living civil rights legend testify at the end of all of this is the equivalent of being made to go to the back of the bus. it is a petty strategy, and the record should reflect my consternation at the unprecedented process that brought us here. my record on equality speaks for itself, and i do not mind being last. but to have a living legend like john lewis handled and such a fashion is beyond the pale, and a message sent by this process is duly noted by me and the 49 members of the congressional black caucus and the 78 million americans we represent and the

over 17 african-americans that we represent. furthermore, on the issue of senator sessions record, prosecuting the marion three, stemming from a complaint filed by african-americans, i say the following. history is replete with efforts by those in power to legitimize their acts of suppression and intimidation of black voters by recruiting other blacks to assist in bringing trumped up charges against law-abiding citizens who are engaged in perfectly legitimate voter education and empowerment activities. those tactics were effectively use against former congressman robert smalls and hundreds, if not thousands of black officeholders and landholders in our post-reconstruction era. they were used several years ago against mr. and mrs. alfred turner, who were discussed by this committee yesterday. the declaration of independence set forth the ideal of universal equality, that rests at the

heart of our democracy. but it is the 14th amendment to our constitution and its equal protection clause that has helped bring us closer to fulfilling that foundational principle and bringing us closer to a more perfect union. all cabinet officials have a responsibility to protect the interest of all of the american people, but there is no office for which the duty to apply the law equally is greater than that of the attorney general. in my capacity as chairman of the congressional black caucus, i urge you to reject senator sessions nomination. throughout our nation's history, attorney generals have used the resources of federal government to vindicate the right of most of the most vulnerable in society. after the civil war, the first attorney general to lead the doj, amos ackerman, prosecuted the kkk for its widespread use of violence aimed at suppressing the black vote. this facilitated massive black voting turnout in 1872 for the

first time in our nation's history, former slaves were afforded the opportunity to participate in the democratic process. simply put, senator sessions has advanced an agenda that will do great harm to african-american citizens and communities. for this reason, the cpc believes senator sessions should be disqualified. he has demonstrated a total disregard for the equal application of justice and protection of the law as it replies to african-americans and falls short on so many issues. jeff sessions supports a system of mass incarceration that is disproportionately targeted african-american citizens and devastated african-american communities. he opposed common sense bipartisan criminal justice reform. and jeff sessions cannot be relied upon to enforce the voting rights act. in his decades long career in public life, senator sessions

has proven himself unfit to serve in the role as attorney general. i would not have the opportunity to testify today if not for men like john lewis who was beaten within an inch of his life in his pursuit for the right to vote for african-americans. it is a shame he must sit here and relitigate this 50 years later. we sit here as the prodigy of men and women who were bought, sold, enslaved, raped, tortured, beaten and lynched. black people were bought as cattle and considered three fits of a human being. we have been able to overcome large part of the history thanks to both democrat and republic brave men and women who sat where you sit and cast often difficult votes for fairness and equality. they fought public opinion and even their own party to do what was right. i come before you today, asking you to do the same. you all must face a choice, be courageous or be complicit.

if you vote to confirm senator sessions, you take ownership of everything he may do or not do an office. he has no track record of fighting for justice for minorities, despite the characterizations that you have heard from others today. he and his supporters have told you he is a champion for civil rights and equality. characterization and revisionist histories are not the same things as facts. he is on the record on numerous issues. i've i provided just a few exams today. let's think about this logically. if he were in fact a champion of civil rights, wouldn't eight civil rights community to support his nomination instead of speaking with one voice and near unanimous opposition? in closing, each and every senator who cast a vote to confirm senator sessions will be permanently marked as a co-conspirator in an effort to move this country backwards toward a darker period and our shared history. so i ask you all, where do you

stand? it is clear from senator sessions record where he stands. will you stand with him and allow history to judge you for doing so? i employ you all to weigh these questions properly as you prepare to cast what will be one of the most consequential votes in your time as a united states senator. there is a legal term that says "the thing speaks for itself." senator sessions record speaks for itself, and i would urge you not to confirm senator sessions as attorney general of the united states, and thank you, mr. chairman, for allowing me to go over. >> think you congressman richman. now i call on mr. smith. >> chairman and members of the committee, i ask that my written statement be made part of the record. >> that will be, and it is true of senator booker and anyone else who did not get their entire statement but in the record, it will be in the record, yes. >> it is an honor for me to be here today to support senator sessions as the next

attorney general of the united states of america. he will do an outstanding job. the american people had an opportunity to witness yesterday through his testimony a brilliant legal mind, a man of the highest character and great integrity. let me briefly address this legal mind. as a staffer, your job is to always be more prepared than the member. senator sessions made this difficult. i remember when hearing where i was passing senator sessions note after note to make sure he was prepared. when he did not speak on the topic i handed him, i would hand him another note on another topic. finally, he decided to speak. he did, as he did in his testimony yesterday, he crushed it. senator sessions was not ignoring my notes, he was systematically thinking about how to put all of the notes together in one speech. a number of my colleagues were amazed by his speech. they asked me afterward, what did you say to him in those notes? i told them, i handed senator sessions a blank sheet of paper and told him to make me

look good, and that is what he did. senator sessions spent yesterday proving to the american people that he understands the law, will discourse it equally and he made a bunch of staffers look good. a lot has been said about senator sessions character. we have seen people who have never met senator sessions claim to know him and know his heart. we have seen members of this body and members of the house of representatives just now who have worked with senator sessions and praised him for his work and now turned to attack him. this should not be. the reason we did not see a lot of this yesterday during the hearing is because the members of this committee know senator sessions. you know he has a strong conservative, but you also know he is fair and honest. if you disagree with senator sessions because of his political views, let's have a conversation about that, but let's do it on the facts, not on 30 years of innuendo and allegations that have been disproven. there is something very consistent about praising

senator sessions for aiding african-american communities and working on crack and powder cocaine legislation then criticizing him because he takes a different political view on another matter like immigration. enforcing immigration laws is not out of the mainstream. on the panel to testify before this one, there were personal attacks after personal attack after personal attack. i doubt anyone of those individuals attacking senator sessions outside of yesterday have a spent 30 minutes in the same room with him. that is 30 minutes in the same room, not 30 minutes talking to him. i doubt any of them have spent 30 minutes or 10 minutes talking to senator sessions. this process should not be a bout -- this should be about facts, not about political aspirations. every allegation and witnessed from 30 years ago has been discredited. members of the media should move on. senator sessions testified yesterday that he would enforce the laws whether he agreed with them or not. that is the role of the attorney

general, not to embrace every point of view and in the shiftg political winds. if you come before jeff sessions, you will get equal justice and respect the outcome even if you lose. how do i know this? i know this because i know jeff sessions. i am not testifying as someone who just met him yesterday. i know his family. i've dined at his house. we didn't johnny burgers together. i've traveled across the state of alabama with jeff sessions, wash and order a blizzard at dairy queen, "heavy on the heat." i've watched him prepare for hearings. i've debated him on legislative matters. i've written speeches for him, i've made speeches on his behalf, i've been in every political situation with him. senator sessions is unquestionably qualified for the job for which he has been nominated. he is a good christian man and a good family man. he is a man who has dedicated

his life to public service and in the course of that, he has fought often for the disenfranchised. he fought for citizen reform, not only did he fight for it, he accomplished it. he fought for civil rights. he prosecuted members of the ku klux klan and most portly, he has fought for the liberty of all americans regardless of the color of their skin for their personal beliefs. this is the way it should be. after 20 years of knowing senator sessions, i have not seen the slightest evidence of racism because it does not exist. i know a racist when i see one, and i've seen more than one. but jeff sessions is not one. senator sessions has served with distinction throughout his career as a united states attorney, attorney general for alabama and as a member of this body. the legal profession is better for his service. this body is better for his service, in this country, at the end of its term, will be better for his service.

and in every season, jeff sessions has been measured, courteous, and kind. he has treated me and everyone respectfully and fairly. not showing favoritism at any point. this is the kind of attorney general that our nation needs. i applaud his selection. i look forward to his swift confirmation. thank you. >> the record will stay open until tuesday, and i think all of you for your testimony and the hearing is adjourned. >> jon: chairman chuck grassley ed joining the senate judiciary committee on the hearing of jeff sessions, the nominated senator of alabama to be attorney general of the united states. you heard conflicting stories there from opponents of the attorney general designate as well as strong supporters, what that committee ultimately decides to do is yet to be determined. we are going to take a quick break, be back with more "happening now" in just a moment.

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so that wraps up an interesting hearing in front of the senate judiciary committee. what is fascinating, no one with is talking about president obama's speech, the ultimate end of his era speech and it barely merits a mention as we prepare fors incoming administration. >> the hearings are going through and what we are learning and donald trump's new's conference that made headlines as well. sdmshgs the ground breaking speech.

for a sitting senator to testify against a colleague. corey booker about jeff sessions, that might be the first presidential speech of 2012. >> interesting. "america's news headquarters" starts right now. >> melissa: oh, boy, it is a big day for the president-elect. i am heather nought and we have hearings taking place for attorney general and also secretary of state. those are ongoing on the hill right now. we are looking live at those. senator corey booker and congressman john lewiswrapping up their comments about alabama senator jeff sessions and the rex tillerson as top state department pick. that will regime and we'll bring it for you you as well. we heard from donald trump himself. it was his